It is a common practice to use packet-switched networks, such as IP networks, to connect calls (e.g., voice, data or multimedia calls) between end users. For example, Voice over IP (VoIP) has been developed to permit Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE), such as IP telephones, to be connected over an IP network so that end users may exchange voice communications via the connected CPE. Moreover, IP gateways have been developed that bridge IP networks with the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN), a circuit-switched network as opposed to a packet-switched network. That is to say, an IP gateway acts as a point of entry for IP calls into the PSTN, e.g., via a telephone switch such as a class 5 switch, and vice versa for calls from the PSTN into the IP network.
Commonly, IP gateways take advantage of the class 5 switch's features to perform call processing, e.g., routing calls. Consider for example, with reference to FIG. 1, a call placed to an IP telephone 10 (i.e., the called party) from a telephone 12 (i.e., the calling party) serviced by the PSTN 20. The call is first routed over the PSTN 20 to a terminating telecommunications switch, such as a class 5 switch 22 or the like. From the switch 22, the call is routed over an IP network 30 in a VoIP format. An IP gateway 32 receives the call from the switch 22, performs the appropriate conversions to route the call between the circuit-switched and packet-switched networks, and routes the call over the IP network 30 to the IP telephone 10 to complete the connection. While generally the call may in practice be placed from any CPE (including other IP telephones), for the purposes of this example, the calling party is assumed to be using the telephone 12. Furthermore, it is to be appreciated that there is likely a plurality of IP telephones that are situated similar to the IP telephone 10 and served by the gateway 32.
It is to be appreciated, as is commonly the case, that when placing the call to the IP telephone 10, the calling party simply dials a directory number (DN) with the telephone 12 in the usual manner. In this case, for example, the DN for the IP telephone 10 is 555-1234. However, the IP telephone 10 is typically identified within the IP network 30 by an IP address. Accordingly, the switch 22 and the gateway 32 have to be provisioned to associate corresponding IP addresses with their appropriate DNs. As is known in the art, the provisioning of the switch 22 is typically carried out via an operations support system (OSS) 40.
With respect to the provisioning of the gateway 32, programming the associations into the gateway 32 is a significant undertaking since every one of typically thousands of such associations has to be specified. For this reason, manual techniques are often not practical for provisioning the gateway 32. On the other hand, provisioning the gateway 32 via the OSS 40 (as shown in FIG. 1) can mean making considerable changes to a service provider's operation systems and/or customizing the OSS 40 beyond the capability already in place to provision the switch 22. Such a proposition may be deemed undesirable due to the attendant expenses. Moreover, provisioning the gateway 32 is further complicated as additional CPE (e.g., IP telephones) to be served by the gateway 32 are add or installed, or current CPE served by the gateway 32 are removed or uninstalled.
Accordingly, a new and improved system, gateway and/or technique for provisioning the same is disclosed that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.